>> right now. >> hi there tony. and we begin with yet another selloff on wall street. the dow closed down nearly 250 points today. that was after bouncing back from more than 550 points earlier in the day. many blame falling oil price. crude oil fell nearly $2 a barrel. to fall to its lowest point in 13 years. john terret is here. john. >> the world is simply swimming in crude, so much so that it's still knocking down prices per barrel and taking the dow with it. falling oil prices and no end in sight. that's what sparked another rocky day on wall street. oil and gas prices led the day, the dow closed down 2%. the reason the price of crude oil falling below $27 a barrel,

the lowest it's been since may 2003. >> we have an absolute glut of oil, simple terms we have four times the supply and one, one and a half, two times the demand. anyone can say that's not good. >> reporter: while that helps consumers in the short term, it's devastating for. saudi arabia floods the market with more and more crude in an effort to first hobble producers in the west and then counter iranian oil that will begin flowing soon, to top the nuclear deal with the p-5 plus one. oil producers like nigeria, where oil is being hurt by falling oil. >> the straw will break the camel's back. we've got tankers full of oil waiting for some places to put it.

>> some pin the price of oil on commodity prices, royal bank of scotland said last week, sell everything and put it in safe investments. cheaper oil and gas to fuel homes and cars this winter, pummeled markets may be around until oil bottoms out. >> we're going to have to see a global pickup in growth may be the kicker but you know what, that isn't going to be happening any time soon hence the stock market is down the worse two weeks in history. >> and john, not only the stock market, the american airline industry is reporting it's paying a dollar less per gallon as it did last year. to hedge their fuel -- >> you would think the tickets would go down. but -- >> no sign of it. >> thank you many jo jock

o'connell. is this all about oil? >> it's about oil but about various other head wins in the global economy. china obviously, the slow down in emerging economies. the fact that the u.s. economy is at best tepid growth and in some sectors, maybe manufacturing, maybe headed into recession. >> last year seemed like an okay year for the economy in the u.s. and then the first of this year and the market takes a tumble like we haven't seen in many. everybody is trying to figure it out so it's china and oil, is that it? >> it's china, china has a multiple effect on the economy. thing to remember is that over the last several years, china itself has accounted for one-third of global economic growth. a slow down will have a ripple

effect with all the countries that deal with china. a year ago looked like they can gotten a handle on the greek crisis now a massive refugee crisis and a slowing economy. there are a number of things that have caused anxiety in the market. one of the causes of that happened in the stock market in the last couple of weeks. >> others are blaming the fed's decision to up interest rates. is that a factor in this or not? >> i don't think so. i think people blaming the fed right now are the people for last couple of years have been hammering on janet yellen. the deficit inflation hawks and the fiscal conservatives who were hammering on ben bernanke

and yellen, the fed followed their advice. >> we know the markets don't like uncertainty. is this about a presidential campaign where it's not clear who's going to win or who might be the nominee for each party? >> there's some frightening prospects out there certainly. that would leave i think any analyst somewhat nervous about what's going to happen with the future of certainly u.s. policy going to be. but there's also reason for anxiety stemming on what's going on in china. collapse of the stock market last summer for example had a dramatic outsized impact not because the economy or more properly the stock market is such a big factor. the volume of trade is trivial in global be -- relative to global conditions. but it's the way the chinese fumbled the handling of that that leads people to concern that the chinese just simply don't have the no-how to manage

the kind of transitions they have to make in their economy. that's causing a lot of problems. >> yes it is. jock, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it. >> thanks john. >> gunmen in pakistan stormed auniversity killing at least 20 people. the leader of a taliban faction claimed responsibility but a spokesman for pakistan's main taliban group denied involvement. the army said four gunmen were killed. a suicide bomber in afghanistan, blast went off near the russian embassy killing seven people. it is the latest in a series of bombings in kabul. no one claimed responsibility for that attack. now to iraq where i.s.i.l. is destroyed yet another relic of ancient history. today the group reduced the oldest christian monastery in iraq to rubble. the place of worship had been preserved in the city of mosul for 1400 years. many historically significant

spots in iraq, have been destroyed since iraq was invaded in 2003. major assaults on two key i.s.i.l. strongholds in syria and iraq. jacky rowland has more from paris. >> reporter: this was the first high level meeting of the seven countries most heavily engaged in the fight against i.s.i.l. their objective, to accelerate and intensify the campaign against i.s.i.l. in iraq and syria. the u.s. navy launches bombing raids from an aircraft carrier in the gulf. the coalition wants to weaken i.s.i.l. and defrayed its ability to capture and hold territory. part of the strategy is to target i.s.i.l.'s logistics and resources and that includes oil. these images from the british defense ministry apparently

shows jets targeting facilities controlled by i.s.i.l. in eastern syria and western leaders need to counter i.s.i.l.'s message. >> translator: its resilience should strengthen that action. we should root out the situation in people's minds. >> reporter: the coalition depends on almost entirely local iraqi or syrian forces. several organizations are providing them with training but there's no talk about putting their own boots on the ground. >> we are as indicated by jeanne yves, not only to defeating i.s.i.l. but also of sustaining its defeat thereafter. >> reporter: it was a large gathering.

nevertheless, there was some notable absences from the table. russia which is carrying out its own air strikes in syria and turkey, which serves as a route for i.s.i.l. fighters and supplies. >> we saw this coalition in history there are already, in afghanistan. i don't think it was hugely some in afghanistan. the second majoring aspect is russia is missing and as is turkey. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. is gaining its strength in libya. the battle lines keep shifting. sometimes even to the heart of western capitals. another meeting will be called in three weeks' time bringing together a much larger group of coalition members. a tacit acknowledgment that

i.s.i.l. is proving more tenacious than expected. jacky rowland, al jazeera, >> the u.s. may have a new base to launch attacks against i.s.i.l. kurdish forces have turned over control of an air field to the u.s. led coalition. it would be the first u.s. controlled air base in syrian history territory. u.s. military officials are not confirmed that report. the political battle over refugees from syria and iraq took center stage on capitol hill today. senate democrats blocked the bill that would have made it tougher for refugees from those countries to enter the u.s. lisa stark has more from washington. >> supporters of the bill which was proposed after the paris tacks said it would help prevent americans from terrorist attacks. syrian and iraqi refugees are already vetted before they come to the united states but this

would have made that process much more stringent. it would have required for example the head of hoaments, fbi and -- homeland security, fbi and national security to sign off. >> what this legislation is about is about national security. people who are refugees whether they are adequately vetted by the appropriate authorities before they come to the united states and live in our communities. this is not about banning refugees. it simply is not. circulate. >> reporter: many democrats denounced the legislation. >> our war is not with syrian refugees, our war is with i.s.i.l. and terrorists and those who are using this country's freedoms to kill innocent people. and for us to turn our back on these refugees is plainly wrong. the bill before us sounds so innocuous. a pause? give me a break, read it. >> it needed 60 votes to advance

this bill. even to begin the debate they did not get it. democrats wanted to turn this really into a slap at donald trump. they said look we'll vote to advance the bill if you let us vote on an amendment to denounce trump on his call to ban muslims from the united states. the republicans were not going to do that. a very hot topic on the campaign trail three renal candidates left their campaigning, marco rubio, ted cruz and rand paul. bernie sanders was not on the senate floor we have voted against this refugee bill. back to you. >> that's lisa stark reporting. freed american journalist jason rezaian had been held prisoner in iran since 2014. he made a brief appearance at a

medical facility in germany. >> good to be out. >> rezaian was with his wife and mother. the washington post correspondent is undergoing medical tests after a prisoner swap on sunday. in a statement rezaian asked for privacy. he said he hoped to catch up on his former nba team golden state warriors and see the new star wars movie. .the search for surviving marines in hawaii has been suspended. they used remote control are vehicles to examine parts at the area. a memorial is planned on friday. water critics call on michigan's governor to resign. what the mayor of flint thinks about that. the sick out teachers are

being -- are using to bring attention to the problems. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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>> president obama made his first public comments about the lead contamination crisis in flint, michigan today. he called it a terrible tragedy. flint's mayor had a message, telling other american cities, don't let this happen to you. andy rosegen reports from flint. >> there are increasing calls for the governor of michigan to

resign. democrat says he shouldn't resign. >> this is something that he's going to have to work on for a long long time. >> reporter: weaver was asked about what a lot of people in flint suspect. that race and class played a role in the state's initial response to the crisis which even the governor called a failure. >> it is a minority community. it is a pure community. and our voices were not heard and that is part of this problem. >> the governor said tuesday during his state of the state address that his administration will make things right. >> there can be no excuse. when michiganters turn on the tap, they expect clean water >> it is a reminder of why you

can't short-change basic services that we provide to our people. and that we together, provide as a government, to make sure the public health and safety is preserved. >> mayor weaver was at a conference in washington, d.c. yesterday warning others about the dangers of contaminated water. >> start monitoring your infrastructure and don't let this happen with where you live. >> mayor weaver was just elected in november but a city manager appointed by governor schneider still has more broad hours over the city than she does. it was a previous city manager also appointed by the governor that led the change to flint river water. andy rosegen, al jazeera. president said it was a good

time to do car shopping since he will soon have to give up his limo. he had lunch with detroit's mayor and talked to locals about the city's progress. mr. obama wrapped up the visit with a speech at the united auto workers training center. >> what's true of detroit is true of the country. that's part of the reason i came here. i'm shopping for a cart but -- [ laughter ] >> but right now, i want people to remember how far we've come. and i'm not running for office again. the reason i want to remind people is not because i'm on the ticket. it's because i want america to have confidence in where we can go. >> the president told the crowd, can you feel something happening in detroit but a lot of residents say they're still feeling the pinch. bisi onile-ere is in detroit.

bisi. >> john, the president started his comments by saying, the city is coming back. the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. it has come back but there are still hurdles ahead. today a city fighting for a come back is showing progress. >> until recently it was spotty, always spotty. >> reporter: before detroit's bankruptcy about 40% of the street lights were broken. now, nearly 90% of the lights have been replaced. we visited mark covington. >> we don't get nothing over here and when you do get something you try to cherish that. >> reporter: the city says that ambulance response times have improved. there's a new fleet of city

buses. violent crime is on the decline. once the target of a selloff a collection of city owned art was saved and for the first time in decades, construction downtown is booming. >> we're really honored to kind of write back distilling history, bring back to the city's roots with distilled spirits. >> reporter: one of the many investors in the area, andrew moore says that detroit's low priced real estate is what attracts investors and entrepreneurs. >> just with people moving down here new businesses, so i think we kind of put all those factors together. it was clear to us that detroit was the right place. >> reporter: but there are still hurdles ahead. detroit's public school district is failing. the population continues to decline. and unemployment remains an issue. and for some detroiters, progress appears to begin and end downtown.

although his visit was brief, the president had lunch today with members of city leaders as well as the mayor of detroit, before touring the north american international auto show. john. >> all right bisi. thank you. detroit's public schools intend to take some of their teachers to court. 88 schools were closed in time for president obama's district. diane eastabrook has more. >> the doors were closed on wednesday as teachers from that school and 87 others called in sick, so they could march outside the north american international auto show where president obama was visiting. this was the teachers latest effort to draw attention to what they say are impossible working conditions in their debt-ridden school district. >> we have overcrowded classes. we don't have enough you know

teachers to offer all the classes that students need. >> they knew the conditions of the school. they knew they were retched. they just didn't know we were going to tell them. >> reporter: the american federation of teachers posted this video on teup youtube how teachers in the video also complained about classrooms with too many kids and not enough supplies. >> i teach first grade. and i don't have anything. >> reporter: the detroit federation of teachers says money problems and a revolving door is why so many of its members are so frustrated. the school district is struggling under a $500 million deficit caused by a drop in property tax revenue and cuts in state and federal aid. that's why the district has struggled to maintain schools and keep teachers. but the interim president of the

detroit federation of teachers says the district is turning a blind eye to the problems in its schools. >> they need to make education in the city of detroit priority 1. >> and they haven't done that? >> no, they haven't done that. it has to be a priority. this is not happening to any other school district in the state of michigan. >> the michigan legislature is now considering a plan that would create a second school district that would take control of the schools and pay down debt. in his state of the state speech tuesday night governor rick snyder says the legislature needs to act soon. >> detroit schools are in a crisis. the detroit schools are in need of a transformation april change. >> the emergency manager says if hem doesn't come by april, the district will be insolvent. >> we are talking about the lives.145,000 students, the schools are at the center piece

of the survival of any community. we think it can be fixed but we need the legislature to do that. >> darnell early couldn't say what would happen but the teachers feel it could mean even fewer teachers and a tougher learn environment for detroit's children. diane eastabrook, al jazeera, detroit. >> coming up. plunging oil prices. and police sexual assault, what has changed and hasn't changed since the allegation first surfaced.

>> stocks took another big plunge today. the dow lost about 250 points. at one point it was down more than 550 point. the nasdaq and s&p 500 were also lower. this is the second triple digit loss of the dow this year. crude oil fell over $2 to close just at $27 a barrel of oil, peter cardillo is the chief market economist for first standard financial and joins us in our studio. welcome. >> good to be here. >> what was the price of oil three years ago, a barrel, $140

a barrel? >> little over $100. >> how is it possible in the short two-year period the price of oil has dropped that far? that quickly? >> well, what happened here was, this was a self-imposed war by the saudis and opec to basically rein in u.s. production. >> didn't work. >> i wouldn't say it didn't work, it might actually be mission accomplished as far as saudi arabia is concerned but of course it's causing a lot of hardship. you have to remember that three years ago, the biggest importer and buyer of oil was china. now, the chinese economy, as you know, is in a transition period. and that's causing some economic pain. and so that -- >> you talk about economic pain and hardship but high price of oil causes economic pain and hardship for every company that uses oil or uses energy, for

every person that drives a car in the world. so how -- i mean isn't there -- there has to be some advantage or balance to know the airlines are reaping the benefits now right? >> well, of course, yeah in fact we have cheaper airline tickets nowadays. >> i haven't seen them. missed that. >> the flip side of the coin is this: oil prices at these levels that have come down from basically $60 down to $25, $26 area, that's a sign of weakness of economic weakness. because it's a supply and demand factor. the market is certainly the oversupply that's overhanging the market is not being absorbed by the large importers of oil. and as i was saying before, china. so what we're seeing here is -- >> is this an overreaction by those in the market? i mean should oil really be at $27 a barrel? >> no, absolutely not. absolutely not.

yes, i believe it's an overreaction. and what's happened here is, like every bear market, when you get into a bear market whether it's the commodities or whether it's the stock market it just needs on itself. >> what do you think the price should be? >> based on today's supply and demand, i would say close to maybe $42, $43 a barrel. >> but that's still very low for countries that have really been reaping the benefits of high oil prices around $100 or more per barrel. >> remember those countries are in dire states, i'm obviously referring to opec and saudi arabia, they have fiscal problems. i think at one point or another, i think we're getting very close to this, that they will blink and that they will probably have to rein in production. >> the hard thing i have for understanding this, this is not new news. we have known there was a glut of oil for months and months in this country and around the

world. we've flown. so would you have thought that would have been -- we'd known that iran was possibly going to start up and start producing more oil as well. shouldn't that have been baked into the market already? >> i think it was but again that goes back to what i said a moment ago. we're in a bear market. when you are in a bear market it needs on itself. good news becomes bad news, bad news becomes -- >> worse. >> -- worse. as a result it continues to go down until it hits a point until people say hey this is utterly ridiculous. >> how low? >> how low? i thought we would stop at 40 and i was wrong. i thought we would stop at 30 but i was wrong. the magic number seems to be 20. we are days away when we see oil captaicapitulate. >> thank you.

a man sentenced tomorrow for assaulting black women white on duty. daniel holtsclaw is asking for a new trial. heidi zhou-castro is in oklahoma city. >> we're on the north side of oklahoma city where this community is still reeling from the attacks of this uniformed police officer. daniel holtsclaw could be sentenced to 263 years in prison but citizens are asking how could this happen? >> he should be throk locked up. >> in the neighborhood where daniel holtsclaw found his victims, there is a sense of anticipation and fear. >> don't know who to trust. >> reporter: these are the blocks that holtsclaw patrolled searching for history of prostitution to sexually assault. >> i think he's sick. i think he's a sociopath, a

serial rapist. >> 13 women have been attacked in his squad car, another victim a 17-year-old girl, raped on her mother's front porch. ultimately holtsclaw was convicted of 18 sexual charges. how could that have happened under this department's nose? >> well, you know, it's a very difficult case. holtsclaw is an anomaly. it's not something you see all the time. in 20 years in law enforcement i've never seen that. >> reporter: the oklahoma city police department says it was clueless to holtsclaw's crimes until the situation emerged, seven months later fired him. >> does this department accept any responsibility for what holtsclaw was able to do while on duty? >> we're absolutely appalled and sorry that it occurred.

once again if we could go back and change the past we would. this individual had nothing no flags in his file. no history that this had occurred. >> reporter: oklahoma city police say no new apologize have resulted from there case, however the city has fast-tracked a body camera program that was already in place. they are not required to run at all times an officer's will still patrol alone. >> more has to be done. tighter monitoring. a no tolerance sexual assault police procedure has to be in effect. >> reporter: investigators say holtsclaw may have had more victims who even today are too afraid to come forward. and here on the streets where holtsclaw hunted his prey the sight of a police car can still cause unease. now, the oklahoma city police department has supervisors who oversee between four to seven officers at a time.

i asked if there was any plan to rework that, see how it failed to catch holtsclaw's actions, i was told there is nothing in the works and in fact holtsclaw's direct supervisor was never disciplined. john. >> all right heidi, thank you. attorney general loretta lynch is defending president obama's executive action on guns. testifying before the senate appropriations committee. the obama administration is seeking funding for its action he. falling well within the limits of the constitution. >> i have complete confidence that the common sense steps announced by the president are lawful. they are consistent with the constitution as interpreted by the supreme court and the laws passed by congress. >> lynch says she has complete confidence the president's executive actions can withstand any court actions. get licensed and conduct background checks on potential

buyers. environmental activists and native american tribes are calling for the removal of four massive hydroelectric dams that cost $1 billion to construct. they're found along the snake river in eastern washington state and have been providing electricity for the region for over 50 years. allen schauffler is there. allen. >> these dams are a continuing source of tension between the government which runs them and the industries that benefit from them and environmental interests who want to see the dams demolished. and we can now point to some fairly large dam removal projects in the northwest that have brought some new energy to the opponents of those snake river dams. at this recent protest flotilla of ci kayaktivists, create a rir

transportation corridor and cause problems for young salmon going downstream, and adult salmon coming upstream. several species are threatened or endangered. there are four dams along 140 miles of the snake river between the idaho border and the colombia in eastern washington. supporters and opponents agree on that and almost nothing else. >> the cost of maintaining them are beginning to far outweigh the benefits they are providing us. >> all results show that these dams are providing outstanding benefits for nation. they generate about $200 million worth of electricity. >> reporter: are they lying to me? >> yes they are. >> that is a lie? >> that is not factually correct. >> the army corps of engineers the agency that runs the snake river dams tells me flatly stands behind those numbers.

>> these turbines are capable of producing about 603 pleg awatts oawatts -- megawatts of electricity. >> enough to light the city of seattle. new slide systems for new fish new turbines like this one coming online that should be less harmful to the few smelt who spin through them. the federal government spends more than half a billion a year on various fish protection efforts required by law in the colombia river basin which includes the snake. >> what we are doing for fish on the snake. >> enough? >> i think we are. >> not enough say opponents. >> to mitigate for these four destructive dams isn't the way to do it. that we ought to be looking at other options. >> sam mace and other antidam activists say they are encouraged by other dam

destructions in the region. the condit dam on the salmon river, four dams on the california-oregon river, set for congressional approval and funding and especially on washington's elwha river, where environmental groups finally brought down two aging hydroelectric dams, the biggest project in u.s. history. >> we will have fish in the river most of the year, just as we did in the past. >> robert elafson has been active throughout the entire complicated process. he sees tribal participation, patience and a willingness to deal with all parties involved as critically important. >> we can undertake efforts that, like this, that take a lot of time. >> and is that a lesson for other people, other tribes in other parts of the northwest? >> absolutely. i mean you know the tribes generally take pride in taking seven generations ahead.

>> rebecca miles former councilmember for nes nez pers. >> in exchange for millions and millions of acres ceded to the united states government we were promised fish. >> all sides agree on the snaik and elwh rarvetion are very different rivers. the four dams on the lower snake river are the newest in the columcolumbia, act of congress o remove them. the elwha dams were privately owned and had no fish ladders. there was no commercial traffic

at all passing over the elwha river. cargo, 10% of the nation's wheat crop. >> the life blood of the pacific northwest is embedded in the columbia snake river systems. >> if you take down the dams what do you have? >> it's gone, we have mud and muck and dirt and dust. >> salmon survival and human commerce all colliding on the lower snake river. allen schauffler, al jazeera, lewiston, washington. they'll continue operating these dams and they'll keep producing relatively cheap, relatively clean electric power for region. environmentalists say we'll continue to see the kayaktivists

on the snake river. at a crossroads, congress has still not approved the funding for the very broad water use and land management projects of which the dam removal is a critically important part. they have missed very significant zed lines and at this point it looks like that deal is going to fall apart very quickly. those klamath river dams are not going anywhere. >> allen schauffler thank you. coming up next, how much worse global warming is likely to get after this.

>> a major storm is heading torts the northeastern united states and it should be here by the end of the week. meteorologist kenji is here with that, kevin. >> that's right, john, the biggest storm we've seen all winter long for the eastern seaboard. one particular system is exiting, that brought some snow about an inch of snow to washington, d.c. but it's actually right here across the central plains, that circulation, we'll be watching that especially on friday and saturday. tomorrow we start to begin a little bit more intensity with the storm, we get snow up here towards parts of tennessee as well as kentucky. but as we go towards friday does the storm really start to intensify and that's whether we really start to see most of the problems as it makes its way up the eastern seaboard.

i want to go closer in, we're going to break this down because there's a lot of elements to this. all the watches and warnings are in place right now, all the way from new jersey all the way back here to parts of georgia. we're talking about winter storm warnings, blizzard watches for parts of maryland. the amount of snow we're going to get friday into saturday where you see this area of pink, that is anywhere between 24 inches or even more. that includes washington, d.c, probably even baltimore, and we are going to be seeing quite a bit of problems on the highways. 81, 95, as well as highway 68 there. then as we go towards saturday the storm makes its way a little bit more towards the north. the amount of snow is not going to be as much for new york but we can see up to 18 inches of snow for new york but it will be even higher as you go a little bit more towards the west. for new jersey it could be between 18 and 24 inches. the amount of winds with the storm they're going to get

stronger along the coastal areas and that means we could see power outages for many people with temperatures that are only going to get to about maybe freezing. back to you john. >> all right kevin thank you. scientists said 2015 was the hottest year on record breaking the record set the year before. the u.s. had one of its warmest wettest years, floods swallowing up infrastructure in the south and there's grim news if the trend isn't reversed. jake ward has more. >> john, we knew looking ahead to this forecast from nasa and noaa, 2015 was a very unusual year 2015 when it came to weather but what scientists announced today was truly unpress tented. millions of acres of forest land burned to a crisp. rain so severe, bridges and roads were washed away. billions of dollars in damage.

these are just a few of the effects of strange and severe weather in the u.s. and around the world last year. >> the 2015 was the warmest year on record. by a sizable amount. >> 2015 set a terrible new standard for planet. shattering records. warmer even than 2014 which had been the hottest year on record. >> if you look at the surface temperature record which goes back to 1880 you notice that 15 of the 16 warmest years have all occurred since 2000. this tells you something's happening. it tells you that climate is warming and this is due to the accumulation of greenhouse gas et cetera in the atmosphere. >> the united states was hit especially hard. according to noaa, national oceanic and atmospheric association, it was the second warmest year and the third wettest year since record keeping began in 1865.

weather patterns are also causing havoc around the world. last year cyclone chipala, the first hurricane strength storm to make landfall in yemen in history. 2,000 were left dead, that found in areas 48° celsius. hottest june to august period on record. >> it's not natural. when you study the paleo climate as i have, we're at one of the warmest periods for the last one or two million years right now. >> el nino may be partly to blame for balmy temperatures in december. >> it definitely affects weather patterns globally through more extreme weather events. as the spher atmosphere warms, e

atmosphere can hold more water. >> the question is whether 2016 will break records again. now john the thing to understand is it's an election year and there's been a lot of talk about sort of this old saw that climate change has somehow paused that since 1998 that last el nino year there had been this kind of long high 8th us of global warming. well, it turns out that that's over. if it even existed at all. scientists were very specific to point out that global warming are accelerating and it looks like all likelihood 2016 will be another record breaking year, john. >> jake, thank you very much. coming up on the broadcast, john ridley in the tough issues addressed in his hit show, american crime.

>> up to four out of five sexual assaults go unreported in america, according to the national research council, male on male rape is even more taboo. it is the center of the season on the tv drama american crime. take a look. >> i don't know what happened. i had a couple of beers, yes. >> you were drinking? >> kept shoving it in my face. >> who, who was doing this?

>> guys on the team. they were telling me it would be fun. why don't you be fun, they were angry about it, be fun, i wanted them to stop. i had a beer then everything got messed up. >> messed up how? where was evvie? >> taking pictures. >> no one was helping you when you were down there like that? >> i don't know. i don't remember. >> john ridley is the executive producer of the emmy winning series, american crime. he also won an oscar two years ago as 12 years a slave. he's here to talk about the series. i don't want to give away anything but you do take on the issues of sexual assault, issues of class. why were they important? >> they were issues that we didn't get to focus on last year, last year was a lot about race and addiction, faith. but there were other stories we wanted to tell. for us in american crime i don't think there's a limit to the

issues we should look at and unfortunately in society a lot of issues are intertwined. we had a lot of opportunity to look at class, at orientation, for us it's an opportunity to do as much story telling as possible. >> as the father of a teenager, thought just sexual assault but the whole idea of kids passing information around on cell phones. >> yeah. >> of class in schools and i don't mean academic classes but haves and have nots. in the school setting. so for actors, they get to do one season in one character and then they're off to the next season in another character. you trying to flip things upside down sometimes? >> certainly with what we're doing last year, actors like tim hutton, felicity huffman, we want to definitive them the

opportunity to play characters they didn't do last year. >> but in hollywood -- >> it's meant to be unflattering, for good reason. the characters we see on television or in movies they're heroic in nature. but your family, you hope you instill values in your children that they take with them but also sometimes those values that we instill they truly are our values and they are not of our kids' world. the choices that we make and our family makes we hope they're the correct choices but what is correct and what is correct for us are sometimes two different things. >> there is a reality that comes through in big ways. how do you create that? >> hopefully it starts with me listening. you read the statistic at the beginning of the program about sexual assault. the things that surprise me are the things i don't know. >> you brought in victims of crime, you brought in people who were involved in this particular problem in america yes? >> we tried to bring in as many as possible and to be clear no

matter how many people we bring in it's still representative of certain perspectives. but if you don't start from the point of view that there's something for me to learn i don't know that we could put out into the public space anything where anybody would feel like there's some value to it. >> how far ahead of the headlines are you in a series like this or are you conscious of that or not? >> i have to be honest, i think we're behind the curve. things that we talked about last year, there were moments when it was on the streets. people would say, how were you ahead of that? the problem was we were just behind it. a sexual assault to a player in tennessee, wow how did you know that would happen? it's happening, if we are talking about other people are living it. >> i've talked to you about this before but i want to go back to it again, it's been a year. what needs to change about hollywood in your opinion. >> hollywood has been very good

to me but the lack of representation not only in front of the camera, which we pay attention to because it's in front of me, but behind the camera, the number of women who are allowed to direct, working in cameras and postproduction, those are real science jobs. and when you're saying to people look we want to you watch these shows, we want you to be involved in the enjoyment but there is a line that is often drawn. that does need to change. it's a great community that's out there. >> so how do you change it? i mean you've changed it personally. >> there's been a space that i've been afforded and within that space we and all of us on this program -- >> you can characterize it in any way you want but you have changed it. >> i hope that i have. there are people on the show that will be working long after i'm out of the business. in the correct way i hope they take with them not just in art

but in life. >> john ridley, the executive producer of american crime. that's our broadcast. thanks for watching. i'm john siegenthaler. i'll see you tomorrow. ali velshi is next. >> i'm david schuster in for ali velshi. prisoner swap between united states and iran. the new year has delivered a new dawn to the historically tense relationship between the united states and iran. over the weekend the united nations confirmed that iran is implementing its end of an agreement concluded last summer with the united states